


Clipped Wings Don't Work On a Seeker (Remastered)

by KittyDoesThings



Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Fluff, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, phantom pains
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:26:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27644783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittyDoesThings/pseuds/KittyDoesThings
Summary: Re-make of the previous version because I didn't like how it turned out.I felt the need to make everyone's favorite airplane suffer and then I felt bad. Self-indulgent thing I guess.
Relationships: Optimus Prime/Starscream
Comments: 9
Kudos: 59





	1. Seeker-kebab

Starscream didn’t remember much of what happened. One moment he and Airachnid were fighting two of the Autobots, Arcee and Optimus Prime. 

And the next was nothing but blinding, unbearable pain.

He wasn’t really sure how it happened. Maybe he got caught in the crossfire of Airachnid and the two-wheeler’s fight while he was focused on the Prime and his wings got skewered by their blades by mistake. However it happened, he felt his wings get torn to shreds and the next thing he knew he was writhing on the ground, the panicked voices of the bots around him blending together with his cries of agony and making him unable to hear anything.

The last thing he felt before he lost consciousness was someone lifting him into their arms.

…

Everything hurt.

So much.

He opened his optics as best he could, unsurprised when he couldn’t see anything. Even with his blurry surroundings, he didn’t know where he was. This place wasn’t the Nemesis, that was for sure. It was too bright.

He tried to say something, but all that came out was a pathetic, half-hearted whimper. He did hear a response, though he couldn’t make out what was said. It didn’t sound like Knockout’s voice.

Oh Primus, was he in the Autobot base?

Though his vision was still hazy, he recognized the figure kneeling down in front of him as the Prime and weakly hissed at him, trying to convey something along the lines of “frag off” or “come any closer and I’ll rip your faceplates off”. Luckily, Optimus got the hint and inched back a bit. The large mech was clearly trying to ask him something, probably if he was feeling alright, but Starscream still couldn’t make out the words. He decided he didn’t want to chat and just turned away from him, smiling smugly when he heard Optimus say something in an exasperated tone. It was only fair he got to mess with the Autobots a bit after they were responsible for destroying his wings.

Well, it was really mostly Airachnid’s fault, but still.

“Starscream…”

Oh great, he could actually hear now.

“I understand if you are upset at us. It was partially our fault you lost your wings.” Optimus spoke. “But the least you could do is allow us to help you recover.”

“You could start by leaving me alone. I’m already in enough physical pain, I don’t need a worse headache from your presence.” Starscream muttered, using what little strength he still had to speak.

Optimus sighed. “Very well then. I shall leave you to rest.”

Starscream heard Optimus’s pedfalls getting quieter as he left. Though he didn’t say it out loud, he _was_ grateful the Autobots had taken him in and helped him rather than just leave him to perish there on the battlefield. Airachnid certainly wouldn’t have commed for help, and even if she did, Megatron wouldn’t have any use for a flightless seeker. It was either having to be stuck with the Autobots or dying, either from blood loss or Megatron finally finishing him off once and for all.

He much rather preferred being alive, he decided. Even if it was without his wings.

“You know, the least you could do is say ‘thank you’.” Ratchet grumbled. “It took the better part of one day to get you stabilized, and three more to keep you stable while you were out.”

Starscream turned to him, rolling his optics. “To steal from you, ‘oh puh-lease.’ Put yourself in my peds for a klik would you? I lose the most important and sensitive parts of myself, sending me into a coma, and then when I wake up four days later I’m in the custody of the enemy, who is partially responsible for the loss of my wings. I deserve to be at least a little upset, don’t you think?” 

Ratchet sighed frustratedly, unable to argue against that point. 

“…I do appreciate that you kept me from dying though.” Starscream quietly added.

“…whatever.”

The room became silent once again, save for Ratchet working at his computer.


	2. Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire

It’d been a whole day since Starscream had first woken up in the Autobot base.

Now he was presumably in recharge once again. He was facing away from anyone else who might’ve been in the base at that moment, so nobody would’ve really been able to tell. He did seriously need the rest anyways.

Miko silently stared at the wingless seeker from the little hangout area the Autobots had put together for the humans. She’d been there for the past hour or so, not moving an inch. It was the quietest she had ever been.

It was a bit unsettling.

“Uh… You alright Miko? You haven’t said anything for a while.” Bulkhead hesitantly asked.

Miko tightened her grip on the railing, then turned to Bulkhead with an expression akin to that of a sad puppy.

“Do you think Screamer’s gonna be okay?” Miko asked.

“Uh… I’m… not sure. I haven’t really heard of a seeker losing their wings before…” the large bot sheepishly replied. “Why are you so worried anyways?”

“A few years ago, I broke my leg and wasn’t allowed to do basically anything for a whole month. I was so upset that I just lied in my room moping all the time, just like this!” She motioned at Starscream as she spoke. “It sucked, and I’m sure Starscream feels exactly the same way! His whole deal is flying and now he can’t!” Miko sighed, resting her chin on her arms. “I wish I had a way to help him feel better…”

Bulkhead smiled and gently ruffled the girl’s hair. “Don’t worry about it too much, Miko. I’m sure you’ll be able to cheer him up somehow.”

Miko gave Bulkhead a smile, returning to watching over Starscream as the other bot went to complete some other task. Just as they did, Arcee, Bumblebee, Jack, and Raf returned from their scouting mission. Bumblebee and the two humans all had unreadable expressions on their faces.

But Arcee was fragging pissed.

“Did… something happen?” Ratchet asked. Arcee glared at him, radiating the pure rage of a million suns.

“Starscream and I need to have a little chat.” she hissed, moving in the direction of the medbay and the aforementioned seeker. Bumblebee beeped to the others to prepare to try and hold Arcee or Starscream back if things went south, much to the concern of Bulkhead and Ratchet.

Arcee promptly punched Starscream right on his shoulder, making him flinch.

“Ow- What the frag was that for?!” he snapped, whipping around to look at Arcee. His confused expression quickly turned to fear once he locked optics with the enraged two-wheeler. He quickly sat up, inching away from her.

“Someone recently gave me a few more details of my partner’s death.” Arcee spoke. “I’ll give you one chance to explain yourself before I decide if I want to repay you the favor.”

Starscream swallowed a lump in his throat. He knew exactly what Arcee was talking about; exactly why she was so upset. But he decided to play dumb and do what he did best: Lie. 

“Wh- What are you talking about?! I never did anything!”

“Stop lying, Starscream! That’s all you’ve been doing this entire time!” The seeker flinched back, curling himself into a tight ball. “Why did you kill Cliffjumper?!”

The base went dead silent for a moment.

“A- Arcee, how… how do you even know it was Screamy? Who told you?” Bulkhead asked, nervously stepping closer to Arcee. 

“Bee and I had a little run-in with Knockout and Breakdown. They told me it was because of Starscream that Cliff was used for Megatron’s fragged up experiment with dark energon.” Arcee furiously explained, her optics not leaving Starscream for a second.

“Oh puh-lease, the Decepticon’s young medic? He’s hardly a reliable source! How do you know HE wasn’t just twisting the story himself?” Ratchet retorted. Arcee turned around to give Ratchet a piece of her mind when she froze at Starscream’s voice interrupting.

“I admit it.”

Arcee slowly turned back to him.

“I admit it. I did kill Cliffjumper, and I’m sorry. Really I am.” Starscream quietly spoke, gaze turned to the floor. “But I did what I had to do to survive. If Cliffjumper hadn’t been sacrificed for the sake of Megatron’s obsession, it would’ve been me that day, corrupted by dark energon and nothing but a shell of my former self. And yes, maybe you are not against that concept, but I very much am.”

“I…” Arcee couldn’t think of anything to say.

Starscream continued. “We are at war, we have all lost ones we care about. But I’m sorry that Cliffjumper had to suffer the same fate my trine and my would-be conjunx did. I’m sorry that I hurt you in the way I was hurt so many times before, but what’s done is done. Revenge isn’t going to bring back the ones who perished, and as much as I’d love to get back at all of you for what the Autobots have done to us Decepticons, you don’t deserve it any more than I do.” Starscream sighed frustratedly, wiping lubricant from his faceplate. “Really, the only bots left who truly deserve to die for their actions are the spider and Lord Megatron…”

Arcee silently stared at the wingless seeker, all the fight having drained out of her. She couldn’t find the words to respond. She simply turned away and headed into the halls of the base, not even glancing at Optimus Prime as he lingered at the edge of the room, having been discreetly listening the whole time. Ratchet walked over to the medbay as Starscream quietly laid back down on the berth.

“…thank you… for telling us…” the medic softly spoke. Starscream responded with a small noise of acknowledgement. Optimus held back the urge to try and converse with Starscream again, sighing and heading off to find Arcee. He felt that the team had a tendency to forget that the Decepticons were just mechs like them, himself included. Treating them as if they were anything less didn’t make them any better than the Decepticons themselves, did it?

He had a feeling helping Starscream adjust to staying with them here in the base wouldn’t be as easy as he first hoped.


	3. If You Give a Bird a Blanket

The sound of something small banging on the door to Starscream’s quarters sounded throughout the small room, shaking the seeker from his thoughts and reminding him that no, he was not on the Nemesis. He grumbled tiredly and sat up, using the berth to help himself balance on his peds. He then proceeded to stumble his way over to the door and open it just enough to peek out, which conveniently happened to be just the right amount for a human to squeeze in, dragging something behind her. Great.

“Do you need something, or are you just here to torment me?” Starscream growled, glaring down at the small human. Miko smiled right back up at him.

“I just wanted to give you something to help cheer you up a little. You seem a bit down in the dumps.” Miko replied. Starscream tiredly rolled his optics and stepped past her, catching himself on the berth and curling himself up on it.

“Whatever it is, I’m not interested. Nothing you humans have will be anything of use to me.” he bluntly stated. “Now shoo. I have a bad enough helm ache as is.”

“Oh come on, please? I think you’ll like it.” the girl insisted. Starscream exasperatedly sighed and turned over, looking at whatever large bundled up thing Miko was motioning at. He reached down and picked it up, letting it unfurl itself. It turned out to be just a huge sheet of cloth, big enough that it could’ve covered Starscream entirely.

“And what exactly is this?” the mech asked.

“I asked Fowler to get me a big ol’ thing of cloth that you could use as a blanket! You can bundle yourself up in it if you wanna hide!” Miko explained. The wingless seeker gave her a skeptical glance and proceeded to wrap the cloth around himself like a cloak.

He started to think the human had a bit of a point. It was warm and soft, and he did feel a bit more hidden with this oversized sheet wrapped around him. He nestled into the makeshift blanket a bit, shuttering his optics contentedly. After a moment or two he opened one of them to peek out at Miko, who was still smiling up at him. He quickly looked away.

“…Thank you, I suppose.” Starscream muttered quietly. Miko smiled a little wider.

“No problem, Screamer! I hope you like it!” With that, she turned on her heel and headed out of the room.

“That’s Starscream to you, human!” he called after her. He was only answered with a cheerful laugh. With yet another sigh, he lied back down on his berth with the blanket wrapped around him.

He didn’t quite understand why this small, somewhat annoying human youth was being so nice to him. He certainly didn’t do anything to deserve it, now did he? 

Though, he supposed younglings were just like that, weren’t they? She still had some of that childish innocence that he himself had lost so many eons ago, back before this whole war, before Cybertron went dark, and before Vos was destroyed. It was both amusing and sad that there were those out there who still had a positive view of bots who didn’t deserve it. 

Bots like himself.

… 

He didn’t really want to think about that right now. He nestled into the blanket again, shuttered his optics, and fell back into his much needed recharge.

… 

Miko skipped out into the main room of the base, making eye contact with Optimus. She gave him a smile, which he happily returned. 

The human had brought up the idea of giving Starscream a little gift to help him feel better the day prior, and Optimus encouraged it, hoping that if he accepted it, he would feel a bit more welcome in the Autobot base. He was relieved that the plan had worked out. Starscream wasn’t known to be the friendliest of mechs.

This was a good step in the right direction.


End file.
